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KEEPWELL CLINIC

Welcome

Please note this website is a resource for people who are interested in learning about Chronic Fatigue, ME, Fibromyalgia.Sadly , I am unable to take on on new clients, due to the pressure of workThe road to recovery has always been a bit hit and miss, as there are many different aspects to these complex groups of chronic exhaustive conditions and most people find themselves trying to deal with each aspect/symptom in isolation, often practitioner hopping without any cohesive treatment plan. Happily, there is such a plan available, for further information go to;​www.thechrysaliseffect.com

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​There is a lot of information on this website. If you have difficulty looking at computer screens for any period of time, contact us and we will send hard copies. Alternatively, ask someone to copy, paste and print the content for you.

Can You Relate To Any Of The Following?

​You feel tired all the time and have a range of unexplained symptoms?

You have unexplained pain? muscles, joints, tender spots?

You have repeatedly sought medical help, only to be told your test results are 'normal' and they can't find anything wrong with you?

Have been diagnosed with ME, Chronic Fatigue or Fibromyalgia but don't have a recovery support plan?

You're constantly researching, looking for answers/cures?

Your health /energy level seems to fluctuate daily, sometimes hourly?

Are using stimulants (caffeine, energy drinks) to keep going?

You can no longer tolerate alcohol and or caffeine?

You are experiencing insomnia, even though you are exhausted?

Tired but wired?

Have an internal jittery/shaky feeling?

There is a delayed fatigue reaction to exertion?

You're suffering unexplained digestive problems?

Your sleep is not refreshing?

Do you feel like you've lost your edge?

Do you often think that you have just become lazy and need to get fit?

Are you starting to doubt your sanity?

Your symptoms are many and varied?

Your life is getting smaller, as you cut down on activities that you used to enjoy?

You 'save' your energy for work and need to rest/sleep when you get home?

There seems to be no logical explanation for how ill you feel?

No one understands!

My StoryIn 1998, whilst living a busy life as a full time registered nurse (RGN) and part time student, I became severely affected by ME/Chronic Fatigue. Initially I was bed bound and spent many unnecessary years of relapse and remission, spending thousands of pounds trying to find a cure, including (in desperation) visiting a professor in Germany.

I was dismissed by the medical profession when all of the standard tests came back ‘normal’. I was eventually considered to be either a malingerer, depressed, neurotic (or all three!) and was sent home to get on with it.I felt profoundly ill but was repeatedly told there was nothing wrong with me, so I battled through until I eventually collapsed. The fear, stress and isolation of feeling so ill and not being believed exacerbated and fed into the cycle of anxiety I was already experiencing. That is why I believe early diagnosis and treatment is paramount to optimise recovery time and in a perfect world, prevention, through awareness and education would be the idea.

The Crash ​ Back Then

Circa 1998...Bedbound!
With Nurse Annie in attendance. I had to wear sunglasses even in a darkened room

At the lowest point of the illness I was afraid I was going to die and as the illness progressed and my symptoms worsened I was afraid that I wouldn't. Please don't misunderstand - I didn't actually want to die, I just wanted it all to stop, so I could get my life back, I missed it so desperately. I felt very isolated and terrified that this was how it was going to be for the rest of my life, a prospect that was intolerable to me"

​As time wore on my husband (Mike) became my carer and as he also worked full time I had to have my Gran (who was then in her 90's !) stay with me in the week, so Mike could to go to work, she did that for two years. There was no practical help or advice out there, I tried to reach out to various ME, Chronic Fatigue organisations and found that they were not for me . Their main focus seemed to be on symptoms, limitations and learning to live with the condition. There was no mention of, or prospect of, recovery.

Quite by accident Mike heard of a young psychology graduate called Alex Howard. Alex had recovered from ME/Chronic Fatigue, and had gone on to establish a recovery clinic and had also written a book, which he purchased and read to me

This was the first glimmer of hope, here was someone that had actually recovered and had helped others to do the same! This knowledge was the turning point for me, it set me on my road to recovery. I decided that I would have to take responsibility for my own recovery and that I would have to do whatever it took to get well! I had to stop waiting for that magic pill, potion, therapy that was going to cure me, I am so glad I did because I would still be waiting.​I would love to say that my recovery was an overnight sensation but it took longer than it should. I didn't have the energy and my cognitive functioning it was so badly impaired, I struggled to concentrate, assimilate and retain information and spent years in a relapse and remission cycle. It also took me a long time to understand and accept the mind/body connection, and to learn what had predisposed me to develop ME, Chronic Fatigue and come to terms with certain highly traumatic events that had occurred in my life. It was a painful, enlightening and ultimately rewarding experience but, without the support and guidance of my therapist, I would never have had the courage to unearth and explore the traumas that I had faced in my life, which had been so instrumental in my health breakdown.

I, and others like me, are living proof that recovery from these exhaustive conditions is absolutely possible. It doesn't matter how long you have been ill, or at what phase of the illness you are in...it can be done!"

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Now

My first ever craft stall, manned by my lovely husband Mike and Milly

I have spent the last sixteen years working on my own health and has addressed all of the issues and barriers, (physical, emotional and psychological) that contributed to my health breakdown and am now recovered. During this period I have gone from being bed-bound, to housebound, wheelchair bound and latterly used a mobility scooter to get around. ​I have since resumed my love of walking, cycling, swimming, yoga, socialising. I also makes stained and fused glass in my spare time and live in Nottinghamshire with my husband Mike and our growing menagerie.

I largely forged my own path to recovery by trial and error until I became a patient and then student of the Optimum Health Clinic in London where I studied Neuro Linguistic programming (NLP) and Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) and learned about the importance of nutrition and self care. Latterly, I completed my recovery with the support of The Chrysalis Effect.I now hold a diploma in Hypnotherapy and Counselling Skills and have qualified as an accredited Wellbeing Coach (with The Chrysalis Effect Training Programme, which is based in Surrey ) where I have completed my training as a Specialist Practitioner for ME, CFS, FM.

In October 2016, I began a 3 year BSc (Hons) degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy at the Sherwood Psychotherapy Training Institute (SPTI) in Nottingham. ​

​I understands the importance of having a systematic, integrative approach to this unique group of illnesses and how, by using specialist tools and techniques, recovery time can be radically reduced or, if addressed early enough, the crash phase of the illness can be avoided altogether.

The Chrysalis Effect Recovery programme devised by Elaine Wilkins (herself a former ME/CFS sufferer, now fully recovered) gives a clear and concise pathway to recovery. The basic premise of the programme is that recovery is absolutely possible and I am living proof!I know beyond any doubt that if this programme had been around when I became ill in 1998, I would not have spent 16 years of my life practitioner hopping. I would have recovered fully and rapidly inside a year saving myself and my husband years of emotional and financial hardship.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I can honestly say that my life before ME was not particularly happy or fulfilling (although I wasn’t consciously aware of it at the time) but now, I appreciate and honour my healthier body and mind and am overjoyed to be able to fulfil the promise I made to myself when I was severely ill. I vowed to regain my health and then to teach others how to do the same, so they can reclaim their lives and avoid all the costly mistakes that I made over the period of a decade and a half, and to raise awareness of this desperately misunderstood condition and, of course, to demonstrate that recovery really is possible.

Fuertaventura...Christmas 2016!

Phone 01623 454845 orE mail: jay.keep@ntlworld.comOpening Hours ​Tues - Thurs 10am - 4.30pmPlease fill in the online health assessment form and send or phone /email for a hard copy, on receipt of which we will contact you for your free 30 minute consultation